1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to salves and solutions. It further relates to salves, lotions, jellies and solutions (compositions) for treatment of inflamed areas of skin, including areas exhibiting lesions.
It further relates to compositions for treatment of such inflamed skin areas where the inflamation is caused by a virus.
It further relates to compositions for treatment of inflamed skin where the inflammation is caused by any variety of Herpes virus, including Herpes Zoster, Herper Simplex I, and Herpes Simplex 2.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) has 34 categories of dermatological preparations, including antibacterial and antifungal. However, there is no "antiviral" heading. The three anti-inflammatory agents listed all utilize a corticosteroid as their active ingredient. However, they do not heal the inflammations or lesions produced by the Herpes viruses.
None of the listed salves, ointments, foams, lotions or other materials intended for topical use employ Indole or derivatives of Indole such as Indomethacin, Tryptophan, Indole-3-propionic acid, Indole-3-acetic acid, Indole-3-carboxylic acid or Tryptophol. Mercks Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy suggests for Herpes Simplex topical use of Idoxuridine (IDU) for herpetic keratitis (eye infection), but this material is not found in PDR. Mercks mentions Acyclovir as having shown promise in the treatment of Herpes lesions.
For other Herpes lesions, Mercks suggests `drying lotions` such as Camphor Spirit or 70% alcohol. For Herpes Zoster, Merck states "there is no known specific therapy."
Proteolytic enzymes which attack and degrade proteins, while claimed to have anti-inflammatory effects have no effect on Herpes inflammations or lesions.
Hormones which directly or indirectly cause the adrenal cortex to produce and secrete steroids, represent another class of anti-inflammatory compounds. However, no known hormones have produced a satisfactory response in the treatment of Herpes inflammation or lesions.
Inglot (TOPICAL TREATMENT OF CUTANEOUS HERPES SIMPLEX IN HUMANS WITH THE NON-STEROID ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS: MEFENAMIC ACID AND INDOMETHACIN IN DIMETHYLSULFOXIDE Arichivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis, 19, 555, 1971) used Indomethacin, an Indole-containing compound and Mefenamic acid a non-Indole containing compound in a highly toxic carrier, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) to heal Herpes sores. Inglot chose the carrier DMSO because it was a vehicle which " . . . facilitates their penetration into the skin." Inglot states that she did not test the DMSO carrier alone on Herpes sores.
Eckert (U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,313 issued Apr. 21, 1981) discloses a carrier for Indomethacin to be applied to the skin of rheumatically affected people. The expressed objective of the carrier is to improve the absorption of the active compound into the skin. Eckert's objective is to get Indomethacin into the body without traversing the intestinal tract, not to treat a disease of the skin.
Silber (U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,412 issued Dec. 21, 1971) teaches Indomethacin as a topical ingredient with methylsalicyclate (oil of wintergreen). Silber's primary objective, like Eckert is to get Indomethacin into the body without traversing the alimentary tract, though he suggests topical effectiveness on skin inflammations generally.
At present no antiviral agents in a non-toxic base, free from side-effects and effective in the neutralization of pain and the inflammatory response caused by the Herpes virus are known.